Jameelah Beckwith and Jeremiah Grant, of Eastpointe, are all smiles after their Aussiedoodle, Ruby, was declared the winner of the cutest dog contest at the Novi Taco Fest on Friday night, Aug. 22.
By: Charity Meier | Novi Note | Published August 23, 2025 | Updated September 3, 2025 9:30am
NOVI — Over 20,000 people converged upon Twelve Mile Crossing at Fountain Walk in Novi for the annual Novi Taco Fest Aug. 22-24.
The festival is a three-day celebration of food, community and culture. It featured 40 metro Detroit food trucks with 75% offering different spins on tacos. This includes everything from barbecue tacos to dessert tacos.
During the event, attendees were able to vote for their favorite taco truck. Guests scanned a QR code to vote in the People’s Choice Award competition. This year’s winner was Los 2 Primos, a food truck owned and operated by cousins Chris and Sergio Arreola, whose parents are originally from Mexico.
“We were surprised. Happy and hopeful we can be there next year as well and take the win again,” Chris Arreola said.
He said they also operate a brick-and-mortar store called La Tiendita, 5975 N. Wayne Road in Westland, which has been in business for nine years.
The festival also offered an array of entertainment, including the ever-popular lucha libre wrestling, mariachi bands, and Novi’s own Ballet Folklorico Mexico Lindo.
“I think both the wrestlers and dancers were very popular this year. A lot of people sat and watched the dancers this year, so that was nice, and the wrestlers are just very interactive and animated and active, and they do a good job,” said event organizer Karyn Stetz.
“We enjoy performing in the Novi Taco Fest because we get to share a piece of our culture with the community,” said Elsa Carrera, founder and director of the Ballet Folklorico Mexico Lindo.
“Our performance is a tour of Mexico that includes dances from the pre-Hispanic era to mestizo dances,” Carrera said. “People can expect to see a lot of colorful dresses and lively dances.”
Attendees were also able to participate in several contests during the festival, including a taco-eating contest, a hot-pepper-eating contest and even a cutest dog contest.
Jameelah Beckwith and her boyfriend, Jeremiah Grant, of Eastpointe, attended the festival Aug. 22 with their 3-month-old Aussiedoodle puppy, Ruby. Ruby won a sombrero for being named “cutest dog” during the 8:30 p.m. competition.
“It was fun,” Beckwith said of her experience entering Ruby in the contest. “I enjoyed it; it was really nice.”
She said that she didn’t know there was a contest until someone suggested they enter Ruby, as she was “so cute.”
The couple has been coming every year since they started dating three years ago.
“We like food,” Beckwith said.
“And festivals,” added Grant.
“Yeah, we’re big foodie people. So, if it’s like any kind of festival, rib festival, barbecue, taco, whatever, we’re down there,” Beckwith said.
Grant said he really enjoyed the wrestling.
“I feel like every year the wrestling keeps getting better and better,” he said.
Shania Myers, of Westland, came to the festival with her friends and said they each tried food from different places.
“Every food truck I tried was really good,” Myers said.
She said her favorite was the Mexican street corn on the cob from the Drunken Rooster. The corn is grilled and has different seasonings.
However, she said her favorite part of the festival is seeing all the different dogs that people bring.
“We always get to see lots of dogs — that’s my favorite part. I love dogs,” Myers said.
“I feel like it continues to expand and there’s, like, more different food trucks out here,” Beckwith said. “Again, I’m here for the food.”
“I love it here,” said Brandon Xu, of Novi. “It’s a really good community event, and I’m really glad to see people coming out from different places.”
Jon-Kayla Pointer, of Westland, attended the festival for the first time.
“I love it. I just like the atmosphere, too — how there’s different taco trucks and food and music. Like, it’s live here,” she said.
Stetz said that despite some rain on Saturday night, the festival continued to draw a large crowd over the three-day weekend.
“It was really smooth this year, so that’s always great,” Stetz said. “We like uneventful events, so to speak. Ones that aren’t surprising in, you know, scary ways, and a little rainstorm wasn’t really a big deal. It didn’t get too windy.”
She said she anticipates planning for next year to begin next week.